Let me talk
by Evilkat23
Summary: Takes place after 'one wild ride' Ben's biological father wants to come back into his life, but after everything that's happened, Ben's having doubts about forgiving him.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I realized how dark a lot of my dragon rider stories are to Ben, especially ones about his father. So I decided to make this fic about his father. It's on the lighter side and I'm trying to make a humorous story. This will also take place three months after 'One wild ride' so if you haven't read that (in which you have to read 'out of the frying pan' before that) please go and do so.**

Ten-year-old Ben looked at the therapist office, then back to his adoptive family,

"Do I have to?" He asked and the others nodded,

"It'll be quick, go on," Barnabas told them ushering the boy forward. Sighing softly, Ben grabbed the handle and opened the door. Walking in, he shut the door behind him and sat down across from the therapist. At first, the man didn't acknowledge him as he sat there writing stuff down. Finally, he put the papers away and looked at Ben who looked back at him.

"Ok...Benjamin...I'm just going to ask you a few standard questions, nothing serious, just a bit about your life before you were adopted...Now...If I can find that paper..." The man paused and flicked through some papers before he let out a happy "Ah!" once he found it. Placing it down he took out a pen and sighed.

"Alright, Benjamin-"

"Ben...Please, I don't like being called by my full name..." Ben mumbled rubbing his arm. The man let out a bitter sigh and just continued.

"First question...What do you remember before you found the Greenblooms?"

"What do you mean?" Ben questioned.

"Your life before, of course."

"Oh...Right...Uh...I was in foster care for the longest time...I don't really much on my biological mom, only that she got sick and couldn't care for me...I was told rather...Heartlessly by my foster parents that she died..."

"What about your biological father?"

"Beats me, the guy walked out two weeks after I was born."

"So you've never seen him?"

"No...Never..."

-Six years later-

"WAKE UP!"

Ben gasped as Guinevere, not so kindly, jumped on his bed as he slept. Groaning, he moved the blanket over his head.

"GET UP!" She happily demanded.

"Guin...It's five in the morning..." Ben mumbled as he peeked at his clock. "It's not even a school day..." Ben groaned.

"AND! C'MON GET UP!"

"Guin, you're going to wake mom and dad..." Ben rolled over.

"They're in Norway for the weekend! Remember!? GET UP!" Grabbing Ben's arm, she literally pulled him out of bed landing face first on the floor, Ben groaned.

"Guin...What did I do to you?" He asked his voice muffled by the floor.

"What is going on?" Twigleg asked sleepily from the desk, he rubbed his eye with the palm his hand and yawned loudly. Ben lifted his upper body up a bit and yawned as well as Guinevere responded to Twigleg,

"Ben's being depressing."

"Guin's being obnoxious."

Guinevere stuck her tongue out at Ben who just sighed and shifted his body around so he was finally standing up.

"Ok, I'm up, why did you wake me up at five in the morning?" Ben asked looking like he's ready to fall back asleep standing up.

"So I can do this." With no warning, she pulled out an air horn and blew it. Needless to say, with in seconds she was running down the stairs at a fast rate as Ben started to chase her. What Ben didn't expect was when Guinevere cornered herself in the kitchen. Ben took a deep breath in and slowly spoke,

"Guin...Once my ears stop ringing, I swear I'm going to-"

Guinevere grabbed the flour off of the counter and threw a handful at his face.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

Guinevere laughed and continued to pelt Ben with handfuls of flour, Ben was quick to retaliate, scooping up the white powder from the floor, soon the two were in an all out flour war. Ben managed to duck a few good times as did She. Guinevere shrieked when Ben managed to grab the bag from her and without hesitating he proceeded to dump all of the flour on her head and down it went from the top of her head to the floor below. Shaking the bag so to get the last of it out of the bag, Ben tossed the bag to the ground and Guinevere giggled, ever little movement she made there was just a white dust cloud following her.

"Ok...I deserved that..." She giggled madly.

"Oh...My...God..." Came a voice from the doorway, both turned to see Atticus strutting in, mouth wide at the site of them and the horrific state of the kitchen and living room as they realized they got flour everywhere, naturally the kitchen was in the worst state as they couldn't even see the tile floor under all of the flour. The living room, which was right next to the kitchen, had flour everywhere as well, somehow, one of the two managed to get a good bit of flour on the TV, the beige couch was now polka dotted with white and the carpet...It was rather noticeable, let's not get started on the brown walls that surrounded them.

"...Atticus...What are you doing here at five in the morning?" Ben asked and Atticus opened his mouth, eyes still wide as he looked at the damage.

"The Prof...Wanted to see how you two were doing...Y'know...I'm currently raising three children, two of which had turned into vampires by now, and the other is three...and yet somehow...They make less of a mess than two sixteen-year-olds-"

Guinevere clearly got bored with Atticus as she threw a good handful of powder in his face.

"Ok...You're so dead!" With that, Atticus playfully lunged at Guinevere, While he was busy trying to get Guinevere back, Ben laughed loudly as he scooped up a big chunk of flour off of the ground and slyly pulled on the back of Atticus's shirt before the vampire could react Ben poured the flour down Atticus's shirt.

"AH! YOU ASS!" Atticus screamed jumping up and down to get the flour off his back.

"OH MY LORD!" Twigleg screamed as he looked at the three laughing it up. Standing there shocked he just shook his head and mumbled; "Your parents are going to kill you..."

"...We should...Probably clean this up..." Ben laughed as he dropped down to the ground, they watched as he laid on his back and sighed. "Ok...Getting up at five in the morning...Worth it."

Guinevere laughed and laid down with him, the two in the flour not really caring at this point.

"It's good to have you back..." She responded and he sighed,

"I never left."

After that the two got up, thankfully Atticus wasn't heartless and helped them clean the mess in the kitchen and living room. After countless hours of vacuuming, changing the vacuum, and vacuuming again, it was finally clean enough to look passible.

"Hey, Ben...Let's put some flour on the fan." Guinevere suggested as she looked up at the fan hanging above the dining table and Atticus leaned in and looked at her.

"Are you trying to get killed?" He asked and Ben chuckled as he wrapped up the vacuum cord.

"I'm with Atticus on this one, Guin, you know mom will kill us."

"Oh, it'll be funny."

"Guin, your idea of funny is waking me up so you can blow an air horn in my ear at five in the morning. I don't think dad or mom will like it if we're eating and flour starts flying everywhere. But I mean, if you want, I'm not gonna stop you. I'm having no part in it." Ben told her simply as he walked away to put the vacuum back in the closet.

"Oh my god, you're actually going to do it." Ben heard Atticus say with a mix of amusement and slight concern.

Once the Vacuum was in the closet, Ben heard someone knocking at the door, looking at the time, he frowned they had spent a good three hours cleaning the kitchen. Still, with it being eight in the morning he had to wonder who was here.

"I got it!" He called out and quickly rushed to the door, forgetting about the fact that he was still covered head to toe in white flour, he opened the door.

"Yes?" He asked the man who seemed a tad startled by Ben.

The man was rather tall, taller than Atticus, but probably shorter than Barnabas. Once over his slight shock on Ben's looks, the man tucked some of the shoulder length dark brown hair behind his ear and huffed out.

"I-Is your dad home?" The man asked his green eyes flickering about. Ben shook his head, some powder moving from his hair.

"Nope. Away. Why are you a business partner or something?"

"Uh..."

"Ben, who's at the door?" Atticus asked, he and Guinevere walked to the guy took a deep breath in through his nose, Ben figured it was at the site of the two.

"Did...Did you guys have a cocaine party or something?" The guy chuckled softly, all three of them looked down at their clothes and Guinevere giggled,

"Flour fight."

"Anyway...Did you need to leave a message for my dad or something? He won't be back until Monday night." Ben asked leaning against the doorway.

"Uh...No...Actually, I was hoping to talk to...You."

There was a moment of silence, Ben looked from the man to Atticus who know stood there eye's narrowed dangerously.

"But you said-" Ben started but the man cut him off.

"I know what I said...Uh...Benjamin...This isn't easy but...I'm your biological father." The man sighed out. There was a heavy heartbeat of silence. Guinevere's eyes widened and Atticus seemed shocked by it was well as his hand went to his mouth.

Everyone waited for Ben's reaction. Finally after what seemed like forever, Ben backed away from the doorway, it seemed like he was ready to let the man into the home...

The man opened his mouth to speak again...

Ben slammed to door in his face.

"Nope." Ben responded shaking his head, "I'll be in the shower." Ben turned and walked up the stairs to the bathroom. Guinevere let out a huff and put her hands on her hips. Walking up to the door, she opened it, the man still outside.

"Come in." She told him Atticus let out a bitter sigh and leaned in closer to her,

"Do you even love your family?" Atticus asked her and she smiled, gesturing for the man to come in. He did so rather nervously.

"Tea?" She asked him and he nodded, Atticus shook his head as she went off to the kitchen to make the drink.

"Guin, Ben shut the door in his face for a reason, why are you doing this?" Atticus asked her as she reached down to grab the kettle, she filled it up and placed it on the stove before shrugging.

"He clearly came here for a reason. Oh, SUGAR!?" She screamed to the man in the other room.

"Yes...Milk too please."

She nodded and grabbed the items and Atticus leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Ben's not going to be happy."

"You don't know that." She told him once the kettle started to steam up. Grabbing some glasses she poured the hot water in and added the tea.

"Really? Him slamming the door in the guy's face wasn't an indication of anything?"

"We'll see. There's some extra water if you want some tea."

Walking out of the kitchen she placed the sugar and milk on the table and gestured for him to sit.

"So you got a name?" She asked him as they both sat, he added his sugar and milk to his drink just as Atticus walked in, his own cup in his hands.

"Oliver."

"Guinevere."

They shook hands and Guinevere smiled.

"So you think you're Ben's father-"

"I don't think, I know I'm his father."

"Hm..." She hummed, there was a silence as the sound of someone coming down the stairs.

"...Really?" Ben asked once he was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Benjamin, please hear me out."

"No. You left. You get no hear out...That sounded better in my head." Ben growled bitterly.

"I want to make things right again-"

"Then you should have stayed. Or at least helped. But you didn't. Unless you have a really good reason for leaving, I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Ben cut him off slashing his arm through the air. "You abandoned us...My biological mother had to give me up, do you know the hell I went through in foster care? What those people did to me?" Everyone sat in awkward silence as Guinevere seemed to be trying to sink into her seat while Atticus found a sudden interest in his nails.

"N-No, but, I want to. I want to know, Ben I know I messed up by leaving. Please...Give me a chance. If it's any comfort, I don't want to take you away, I swear on my life, I don't...I want to know you...Please..." Oliver spoke softly as he stood from his chair. Ben put a hand on his hip and frowned deeply, he watched as Ben then crossed his arms and looked away.

"...Oliver Pearson." Oliver said as he brought his hand out for Ben to shake.

"It's a little sad that my own dad has to tell me his name." Ben deadpanned and Oliver brought his hand down and sighed softly.

"Y-Yeah...I guess it is."

"Any leftover water for tea?" Ben asked bypassing Oliver and Guinevere shook her head.

"Ok. I'll go and make some more then." Ben mumbled and went off into the kitchen.

Oliver looked down and sighed softly,

"This...Was clearly a mistake-"

Guinevere shot up from her seat and gave him a look to wait, getting into the kitchen she saw Ben waiting for his water to boil.

"Ben..." She whispered and he gave her a sour look.

"Why did you let him in? I want nothing to do with him." Ben whispered back to her and she scooting a little closer to him, twisting her hands together as she shut her eyes.

"He wants to know you."

"I don't care. He abandoned me and my biological mother-"

"Annnd if it wasn't for that you wouldn't be the dragon rider..." She gently twirled a piece of her hair in between her fingers.

"Guin...Yes if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have met Firedrake, or be part of your family, but...It still stands, Guin, he left my mom when he found out she had cancer..." Ben practically pleaded as he grabbed onto her hands to stop her constant fidgeting. "Why should I give him a chance when he didn't give my mom a chance?"

"...Still...He wants to make amends. Give him a chance...That's what he wants is just a chance with you."

Ben let out a soft sigh and Guinevere smiled warmly at him.

"Fine...Fine! But we're doing this by my rules." Ben huffed, turning he walked out of the kitchen. Atticus raised an eyebrow at Ben as his friend stood there in front of Oliver.

"Ok...I...Talked it over with my sister. And I've decided to...Listen to what you have to say."

Oliver perked up happily and smiled at Ben, Atticus frowned, they had the exact same smile right down to a T.

"However...If we're doing this...I decided I want my adoptive father here as well." Ben continued and Oliver's smile dropped a bit at that and he scratched his nose.

"O-Oh...I figured you were too old for adult supervision..." Oliver mumbled quickly Ben narrowed and leaned down so he and Oliver were face to face.

"I'm not doing this without him here. That's final." Ben snarled pointing down to the ground bitterly.

"Alright...Alright...I'll agree to it. When will he be back?"

"Monday morning."

"Ok. That's good, here's my number, tell your adoptive father to call me whenever he gets a chance." Oliver stood and tossed a piece of paper on the table, Ben watched as he finished off his tea and then started to leave. Ben walked him to the door before he opened the door, Oliver turned causing Ben to stop.

"Thank you...Seriously. I look forward to seeing you again."

"Y-Yeah..." Ben muttered and looked away, his father stood there, arms open for a hug and Ben just scooted away a bit. Making Oliver slowly put his arms down.

"Ok...See you, Ben...I'm glad you're doing well..." With that Oliver turned and opened the door, walking out, he shut the door behind him.

"...Things are about to get really interesting. Aren't they, Young Master?" Twigleg asked, popping out from behind a vase.

"Very...Very interesting, Twiggy." Atticus chuckled as he polished off the rest of his tea. Everyone was quick to look at Ben who just shut his eyes. Slowly he sat down in the chair and rubbed his forehead, with an irritated sigh he spoke,

"Just when things were getting normal again...Life throws a goddamn crowbar my way."

Guinevere came back in from the kitchen, cup in her hands, gently she placed the cup down and placed both hands on Ben's shoulders.

"It'll be alright."

Ben dunked the tea bag up and down before grabbing the milk and pouring a bit in, stirring it a bit, he reached over and grabbed the sugar, Atticus cupped his hands under his chin and watched as Ben poured three spoonful's of sugar into his drink. That was when he chuckled.

Ben looked up at him and frowned.

"What?" Ben demanded as he cupped his hands around his drink. Atticus just smirked slyly as he stood up.

"Oliver made his tea the exact same way."


	2. Chapter 2

The weekend came and went in the blink of an eye, and by the time Ben and Guinevere came home from school Barnabas and Vita had already returned home.

"Hey." Barnabas greeted them as Guinevere ran and hugged her father. "How was school?" he asked as he hugged his daughter back.

"Great!" Guinevere answered excitedly.

"Alright..." Ben mumbled as he hugged Barnabas after Guinevere finished and she hugged her mother.

"Still having trouble catching up?" Barnabas questioned as Ben hugged Vita next.

"Yeah...You know, you try to explain you've been kidnapped by a vampiric clone and suddenly you're crazy and lying." Ben joked and his adoptive father could only chuckle. Twigleg, who's been sitting on the kitchen counter, spoke up,

"Ben, why don't you tell them what happened this weekend?"

Ben turned, eyes wide as he gave Twigleg a warning look. Barnabas reached over and grabbed a glass of water as his wife asked,

"Oh? What happened over the weekend?"

Ben shut his eyes tight as Guinevere felt the need to answer.

"Ben's biological father came by!"

Vita gasped as Barnabas let the drink slip from his hand. The glass didn't shatter, thank god, but it did spill out onto the carpet.

"Thanks, you've given them both heart attacks." Ben quipped sarcastically to Guinevere who just giggled in response.

"A...Are you sure?" Vita asked as she sat down in the nearest chair.

"Yep, he said, he knows he's Ben's father," Guinevere responded once again.

Barnabas picked up his glass and quickly grabbed a rag to mop up the water, as he did so he asked,

"He came to you now? I mean why now?"

"No clue. Just said he wants to make thinks right...And he left me his number for you." Ben answered as he handed his adoptive father the slip of paper.

"We should invite him for dinner." Vita stood as she looked at the number.

"Agreed." Barnabas nodded and Ben shifted his gaze between the two of them.

"Tonight?" He asked.

"Of course." Both responded at once.

"I'll call him up...What's his name?" Barnabas asked Ben.

"...Oliver."

"Oliver, nice name, don't meet many Oliver's these days..." Barnabas mumbled as he grabbed the phone and started to dial.

"Right...Anyway, I have a bunch of homework to do. I should get that done." Ben spoke as he headed upstairs. Once in his room he plopped down at his desk and took out his homework. Starting on English he slowly got that done and moved onto history, one by one he knocked down most of his homework as a couple hours passed. He was finally on math, that's what made him pause. Out of everything, Math was the hardest for him to catch up on seeing how quickly they move on from one subject to another. It didn't help that he was currently taking calculus. He was still stuck on the first problem when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in." He responded robotically, he figured it was Barnabas or Vita, he got a surprise when Oliver walked in.

"Hey." Oliver greeted.

"Oh...Hi..." Ben greeted back, looking at his alarm clock he saw it was currently five in the afternoon. Sighing out, he never realized that he's been sitting doing homework for the past two hours.

Oliver stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before speaking again.

"So, you're adoptive parents are nice."

"Yeah, they are..." Ben mumbled unsure of what to say.

"So, whatcha doing? Homework?" Oliver asked as he comes on over and peeked over Ben's shoulder.

"Yeah..." He mumbled again.

"...Is that calculus?" Oliver questioned as he suddenly moved the paper to get a better look at the problems.

"Yeah."

"Is that all you say?" Oliver joked Ben watched as Oliver then gotten down on his knees so he was level with the paper. Ben decided not to respond.

"I was in calculus when I was your age. God, I shouldn't have been in that class it was...Way too hard for me."

"It can be. I know that. It doesn't help that I'm dumber than a sack of rocks, though." Ben sighed as he pushed himself back from his desk. Oliver perked up at that but said nothing as he watched Ben stretch.

Oliver stood up as well and frowned a bit as Ben looked down clearly not making eye contact.

"So, you in any AP classes?" Oliver asked as he leaned against Ben's desk.

"Please, Me? In AP? No. Just normal classes. Mostly C's although before I was getting A's but then...Never mind." Ben muttered the last part rubbing his shoulder awkwardly.

"Dinner's ready!" Guinevere yelled from downstairs and Ben quickly zoomed off.

Taking his seat, Ben watched as Oliver sat next to Barnabas while Ben sat in between Vita and Guinevere. Filling his plate with some food, everyone silently ate. The awkwardness started to fill the air almost instantly. The sound of their silverware against the plates was all that could be heard for a good while before Barnabas spoke,

"So. Oliver, what do you do?"

Oliver paused and put a finger up as he quickly chewed the food in his mouth, once he swallowed he answered,

"Oh, I work in a morgue."

Ben spat out his food and started to cough in shock, Guinevere reached over and patted his back as he grabbed his glass of water and started to drink.

"O-Oh, so you're a coroner?" Barnabas asked also in a slight shock by the answer.

"Yes. You know now that you bring it up, that man that was here when I first came by."

"Atticus," Ben told him as he brought his hand up to his mouth slightly.

"Yes, him...He was rather...Gray looking."

"He doesn't like sunlight." Vita quickly spoke up and Oliver chuckled softly,

"It doesn't really matter. I mean, look at Ben he clearly doesn't like sunlight, but his skin isn't gray. The cause of gray skin isn't the lack of sunlight, if he was pale it'd be one thing, but he's...Gray..Which is normally caused by lack of oxygen..."

"He's sick." Guinevere chimed. "He doesn't like to talk about it...He has stage four cancer."

"Oh...Poor guy." Oliver spoke softly as he continued to eat like nothing happened. "Hopefully I won't have to be the one to cut him open when the time comes. He seems like a nice guy." Oliver muttered with his mouth half full.

Once again, Ben spat out his food and started to cough, this time Vita patted his back and Barnabas shook his head.

"What cancer?" Oliver suddenly asked and Ben quickly asked,

"Can we not talk about this? Please? He's one of my best friends."

"Oh, he's your friend? Odd...I figured he'd Barnabas's, he seems rather old to be hanging around you."

"What can I say, I like 'em older." Ben shrugged, Oliver just shook his head and continued to eat.

Eventually, they all finished their dinner, once the dishes were in the sink and the leftovers put in the fridge, Oliver, and Barnabas both walked away into Barnabas's study and shut the door. Guinevere and Ben turned and looked at one another, both ready to put their ears up against the door to hear what Barnabas and Oliver were talking about. They both got about one step towards the door when Vita grabbed them both by the back of their collars, and gently pulled them back.

"No you two don't. Let them talk." She told them rather sternly.

Both of them sighed out but complied, walking over to a lamp Ben smiled down at Twigleg,

"Been there the whole time?" He asked in a hushed voice,

"I swear, every time I tried to move he would turn and look at me," Twigleg answered and Ben just chuckled softly. Twigleg took a step out to hide under Ben's sleeve, but before Twigleg could Oliver and Barnabas came back in and he hid behind the lamp post once more.

"Ok, well I'm going to go now. I look forward to seeing you guys again." Oliver smiled at all of them, he stopped at Ben who just huddled a bit and looked away.

"Right...I'll be seeing you soon, Ben."

Instead of last time where he wanted a hug, he just brought his hand out for a handshake, looking away Ben hesitated before taking the hand and shaking it rather awkwardly. Oliver smiled and turned, walking out, once he was out the door, Ben turned to the professor,

"What did he mean by that?"

"He's just...Coming by your school to see how you're doing...Tomorrow."

Ben quickly went to argue but Barnabas put a hand up, stopping him instantly,

"I tried...to talk him out of it, but...He insisted, he's not going to follow you around, he just wants to check up on your grades and attendance."

"Dad...Prof...Urg! You are aware that when he does that he's going to see that I've missed almost two months of school."

"I know...I told him that we had a falling out and that you ran off, but you came back." The professor explained as he leaned against the nearest wall, and Ben sighed.

"Yeah, I guess that will work...It's better than the truth anyway." Ben chuckled softly.

"Oh dear..." Vita suddenly said, then with no warning she ran off towards the bathroom.

"Darling?" Barnabas asked running after her. Ben just sighed and quickly made his way up to his room. Plopping back down at his desk, he looked down at the calculus homework still undone. No longer have the energy to deal with it, he shut his notebook and threw it on his backpack not caring. Groaning out he rested his head on the desk and sighed out softly.

"Hey." Guinevere softly spoke from his doorway.

"Yeah?" He asked as he looked over at her.

"Things will get better." She told him as she came in and patted his back.

"I know they will...I just don't know when..."


	3. Chapter 3

When Ben walked into school the next morning, he was met instantly with his friend Justin.

"Hey, Benny."

"Hey, Justin, do you think I could copy your homework?"

"Oh-HO! The great Benjamin Greenbloom wants to copy MY homework? What universe am I in?!" Justin yelled as he dramatically grabbed his face.

"Ha...I'm splitting my sides here." Ben sarcastically quipped at his friend who just chuckled and took out his notebook from his bookbag.

"Here ya go," Justin told Ben and watched as Ben quickly grabbed his own notebook and started to copy down the answers fastly, he was done in record time and gave Justin his notebook back.

"Thanks." Ben sighed out as he put his own book back in his bag.

"Man, it's such a bore without Atticus around..." Justin sighed as they walked down the hallway.

"Yeah. I miss him too. He's in Ireland now...Sometimes I think about just doing what he did..."

"...Dropping out and moving to Ireland to raise three children?"

"No. Just dropping out." Ben shook his head as he walked up to his locker, undoing the lock, he angrily threw his bag in there and sighed bitterly. "...They're going to hold me back..." He sighed softly.

"Oh, so you missed...Two months...That doesn't mean you can't bounce back."

"But I'm NOT bouncing back, Justin. I have to copy your homework for Christ sake...I'm a paranoid mess right now and my biological father coming back into my life-"

"Whoa...Whoa...Your actual dad found you? Like the one that walked out when your mom had cancer? That dad?"

"Yeah. That dad." Ben mumbled as he picked up the notebook and books he needed."

"And he's here, at school, because he's just now concerned about me. He wants to check my GPA, which by the way, dropped, madly, and my attendance...Yeah, it's going to go over well. It's all too much!...Plus...I heard a teacher said the best option for me is to repeat this year...I can't! I...I can't, man...I want to drop out, but...That won't fly..."

The bell rang overhead and Justin gave Ben a slight pat on the shoulder.

"Look, It'll get worse before it gets better. Ok? Just look on the bright side of things, that's one thing you've always been good at. Anyway, I better hurry." With that Justin turned and walked away, leaving Ben alone. Looking down at his shoes, Ben walked forward, not paying attention, he was suddenly grabbed harshly by the side of his collar and pulled into an empty janitor's room.

"NO!" Ben screamed, flashbacks of clone Zenith flashing through his vision he hit the person as hard as he could with his heavy science book.

"Oof...Geez..." Oliver mumbled holding onto his jaw where Ben had struck him.

"What the HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Ben roared as he then continued to beat his dad's shoulder with his book in rage.

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd go crazy like that." Oliver chuckled softly as he held onto Ben's arm stopping from attacking.

"Don't do that again!...What do you want?" Ben asked and Oliver smirked slightly.

"I wanted to talk to you. About the Greenblooms."

Ben felt his eyes go wide as Oliver stared him dead in the face, full on serious.

"What about them?" Ben asked backing away into the corner.

"Ben, Barnabas mentioned a falling out between you two...I know that sometimes adoptive families won't treat the adoptive children the same-"

"No! They never do anything like that!" Ben yelled out he could feel his face flushing with slight anger at just what his biological father was getting at.

"Well, I just want to know what could have possibly made you run off on your own...I know a bit about your foster parents and-"

"It wasn't like that...They never hit me, ever, they've always made me feel like a member of their family...It was me..."

Ben lied as he leaned against the wall, he heard the final bell ring outside the closet and sighed.

"Now, I'm late. Thanks." Ben angrily snapped before turning his heel and walking out.

"Ben-"

"No. I have to go and get a late pass, whatever you want to say and can say later when I don't need to go to class." Ben growled without even turning around. Walking down the stairs quickly, Ben went towards the office for a late pass. Once in, he gave his lame excuse and got the pink pass. Going back towards his class, Ben shut his eyes for a brief second just to sigh softly and reopened them. He just wanted to get to class and be done for the day.

However, he Felt someone grab onto his jacket sleeve before he could react properly he was harshly yanked back into an empty classroom.

"I SAID STOP!" Ben screamed, thinking Oliver had grabbed him once more, using his book like last time, he struck the person brutally with his thick science book, however, he soon realized that this person was not his father, but another teenager. As the teen, who was clearly not ready for the attack, fell to the ground clutching the side of his face that now had a noticeable imprint that simply read,

Scien-

"Fu...God...I think you knocked out a tooth." The other teen groaned as he rolled over to his stomach to push himself up. Ben was quick to notice the American accent this guy had and Ben narrowed his eyes and asked cautiously,

"What do you want?"

"Well, now I just want to make sure all my teeth are in my head!" The teen growled in response. He brought his arm up to wipe the blood clearly spilling from his busted and now swollen, lip. Ben took this moment to look the guy up and down, he was no older than Ben himself, sixteen, he had frizzy faded blue hair, Ben could see a little bit of orange poking in from the guy's roots. The guy also had green eyes, thinking back to Finch and how he had once fooled Ben with contacts, Ben grabbed the guy by his collar and pulled him rather uncomfortably close just to make sure that his eyes were really green and not contacts.

"Wh-Whoa there Dragon rider...A Little up and personal dontcha you think?" The man nervously asked Ben let out a bitter tsk once he confirmed that his eye color was real. Letting go of the guy, Ben just looked at him once he realized just what he had said.

"Ok...You know what I am...Who are you?"

"Damian Rolen." The man introduced himself giving his hand for Ben to shake.

"...And your real name?"

"Damian."

"Right...What do you want with me?" Ben asked ignoring Damian's obvious want for a handshake.

"Ok, straight to the point, I like that...What if I came to you with a Proposal that helps the both of us?"

Ben just gestured for the guy to continue on as he stood there, his science book now tucked under his arm. Damian smiled warmly at Ben and sat on top of the nearest desk before continuing,

"I couldn't help but overhear that you want to drop out? What if I could get that to happen?"

"Please, even if you could, my adoptive family would kill me?"

"I'm not done. I help you drop out, you come with me on the adventure of a lifetime."

Ben couldn't help but scoff at the guy before rolling his eyes bitterly and responding with,

"What? I don't even know you!"

"Dragons are being kidnapped." Damian got straight to the point, either ignoring Ben's previous statement or just didn't bother to respond to it.

Ben stared at the guy dead in the eyes, mouth slightly dropped.

"W-What?"

"Dragons are being kidnapped by scientist, and you see...You aren't the only dragon rider in the world. There are, from all that I've gathered three, counting you and me...I bet you know the third one."

"Atticus."

"Yes, the vampire. Now you see, the problem is those same scientists took my dragon, Issiah, from me. I'd go and get him trust me, I would love to go and get him back, buuuut one teenager against...An army of trained guards and scientist that probably know how to kill me without leaving a trace, I can't do that."

"Yes, it's clearly better if it was two teenagers." Ben sarcastically commented. Like before Damian either chose to ignore the comment or not reply to it because he continued,

"Now, I'm not completely alone, you see I have my info-guy, yes, that's what I call him because I don't know his real name, but my info-guy lead me to you, I have trust in him...I need your help here, Ben, you know how to work with dragons you make friends with otherwise dangerous creatures, I need you to help me save these dragons."

Ben frowned at this and backed away slightly, Damian rubbed his jaw before spitting out some blood on the floor.

"Look, I'm not going to force you to do this. Let me say this, I'll give you five days, on the fifth day I'll be outside you're home at midnight I'll be waiting till twelve-thirty, come with me if you want, or just stay home if you don't want to." Damian told him simply as he walked passed Ben. He stopped at the door and turned to Ben, who looked back at him,

"Bring that book if you want, that would be a good weapon to have." He joked and Ben frowned deeper,

"I'm a pacifist."

Damian just shook his head in response to Ben before opening the door and walking out like nothing happened.

Ben heard the bell overhead rang, signaling that class was now over. Walking out of the empty classroom, Ben looked out at the sea of students all rushing to get to their next class. Sighing softly he looked down and shamefully went back to his locker. Opening his locker, Ben grabbed his history notebook and shoved his science book into the locker.

Whatever just happened with Damian was beyond weird, Damian knew way too much on Ben and Atticus for that matter. However, Damian didn't seem threatening in the slightest, aggressive, yeah, but not threatening like Finch or the witch for that matter. Maybe whatever he really did need Ben's help...

Once he shut the door he jumped back in surprise as Oliver stood there on the other side, arm resting on the other lockers, with a slight sigh, Oliver spoke.

"Want to leave school for the day?"

"What? you can't do that, you aren't my official guardian." Ben simply told him and Oliver just smirked a bit.

"Benjamin, how do you think they let me in here? I told them I was Vita's brother, and they believed me."

"Doesn't surprise me. I literally once ran out of the school and nobody noticed until three periods later that I was gone. The people here...aren't the brightest." Ben laughed slightly.

"C'mon, a little lie about a dentist appointment should put you in the clear, what do you say?"

Ben paused for a moment and looked at Oliver, deep down, Ben knew he should leave the school, he was falling behind as it was, and skipping an entire day wasn't going to help his grades any. Still, a day not being imprisoned did sound promising. Besides a strange part of Ben did want to get to know Oliver just a little bit better, as long as Oliver didn't accuse the Greenblooms of abuse that was, and it would probably get Ben's mind off of Damian.

"Yeah sure."

Oliver smiled and patted Ben on the back as the two walked towards the office to sign Ben out of school for the day. Still, as Oliver told his obvious lie about being Vita's brother, Ben's mind went back to Damian and what he had mentioned, Ben could only think of one thing.

If dragons are being kidnapped, then how much risk is Firedrake and the others currently at right now?


	4. Chapter 4

"Ok, Ok, my turn," Oliver spoke up between the two of them as he and Ben walked down the pier. The two of them asking one another questions. Ben sipped some of his soda and waited for Oliver's question. Ben, of course, set some ground rules, no questions about what happened three months ago, and nothing on trying to make the Greenblooms bad guys. So far it's been pretty tame.

"Ok...Favorite color?" Oliver asked and Ben just chuckled,

"Silver."

"Really? Why?"

"It...Reminds me of the moon is all." Ben half lied without skipping a beat. Getting to the railing of the pier, he sat on the rail and thought of a question for his father.

"Why a coroner?"

"Ah..." Oliver sighed and leaned against the railing, "Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to be a doctor?"

Ben chewed on his straw sticking out of the styrofoam cup and waited for Oliver to continue.

"Yeah...I wanted to be a surgeon, but, any school for that was too much so I went for the next best thing, a coroner."

"Well, surely now you could go to school for it. Coroners make good money."

Oliver only smiled and reached over gently he ruffled Ben's hair. Ben moved his head out from under Oliver's hand and gave him a look before straightening his messy hair.

"It's complicated. Ok, back to my turn. What do you want to do when you finish school?"

' _You mean if I finish school...'_ Ben thought before just shrugging.

"Dunno. I haven't planned that far ahead."

"You don't know at all? Surely there's something you want to do?"

Ben shrugged again.

"Travel, I guess."

"Oh, so maybe be an archeologist like the professor?"

"...I dunno..."

"Your turn."

"...I only have one question...But I don't want to ask it yet."

"Oh? C'mon Ben. I won't get mad."

"...Why...Did you track me down? I mean I don't live where mom used to anymore, I ran off as well plus I was adopted and changed my last name. How did you even find me? I live so far away from before."

"Oh. Well, actually...Ben...I've been looking for you for the past seven years."

"What?"

"I didn't get news of your mother's death until way later. So when I heard I went to your foster parents. They told me you ran off. So I continued to look. I went to every orphanage till I got a hint about you living in an abandoned warehouse. But, when I got to that warehouse-"

"It was already to the ground."

"Well...No...It was getting ready to be demolished. I heard people screaming something about a monster living in there. Of course, they sent more people in but come up with nothing then they demolished it once it had the all clear. After that, it became almost impossible to find you on my own. So I hired a private investigator. That guy was a loon if I ever saw one. Claimed you were in Eygpt, then near China, and finally in the Himalayas. I almost gave up on him till about two weeks ago when he said he finally found you with a different last name..." Oliver explained softly, Ben sighed and continued to gnaw on his straw.

"...I thought you were dead." Oliver softly said making Ben look at him. "When that warehouse went up, I thought those men were insane and blew it up with you inside."

Ben looked down at that the pier but said nothing. After a few passing seconds, a thought suddenly struck Ben.

"What time is it?!"

"Aw, Ben you already had your turn." Oliver joked as he took out his phone before frowning. "Uh-oh..."

"What?"

Oliver showed Ben his phone revealing not one, but three missed calls from the Professor, and two missed calls from Vita's number. The worst part was school hadn't even gotten out yet.

"So, this is how I die," Ben muttered as he looked up at the sky.

"C'mon we should head back."

The moment Oliver and Ben walked through the door of the Greenbloom's home, they were greeted by both Barnabas and Vita standing there arms crossed looking rather disappointed. Before Ben could even open his mouth Barnabas pointed up the stairs.

"Room."

"On it. Good luck, Oliver." Ben quickly said rushing up the stairs, not wanting to test the professor's oncoming wrath. The moment his door shut Barnabas focused on Oliver.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" He yelled to Oliver.

"I just wanted to get to know him-"

"By taking him out of school! He has a hard enough time catching up already! The last thing he needs is to miss even more days!"

"Well maybe if I was properly told what happened to him three months ago then I might not have taken him out for the day."

"That doesn't matter!" Vita cut in seething. "We were worried sick about him! You had no right to take him out of school!"

"So you did lie to me! What the hell happened!? I deserve to know!" Oliver yelled back his face turning red with anger.

The three of them stood there in silence and Oliver ran his hand through his hair. Vita frowned deeply and looked away while Barnabas just sighed out.

"It's not in my place to say, Oliver. It's Ben's. But it still stands, you had no right to take him out of school like that."

"How did you even find out, school isn't even over," Oliver demanded and Barnabas just rolled his eyes,

"You don't think Guinevere, who's in the same grade, wouldn't have noticed Ben missing?"

"...Ah. I did not think of that."

"Obviously. Don't do that again, I understand wanting to get to know Ben, but he needs his education."

"Fine...I'm sorry," Oliver muttered bitterly almost like a child being forced to apologize, looking down, Oliver crossed his arms and sighed out softly. Barnabas then put a hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"Tell you what. If it's alright with Ben, I'll let you take him over to your home for the weekend."

"Really?!"

"Only if it's ok with Ben, just, no more taking him out of school."

"Ok, understood. I'll go and ask Ben then." With that, Oliver quickly walked up the steps and knocked on Ben's door. There was a silence before a slightly muffled voice asked,

"Yeah?"

Opening the door, Oliver sat on the edge of Ben's work desk as he looked at Ben, who was sitting crossed legged on his bed.

"My turn. How would you like to spend the weekend with me?" Oliver asked and Ben tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Spend the night at my place."

"Whoa...Whoa...Oliver. You are still a stranger to me, I...I'm sorry, I don't think I can trust you enough to spend a whole weekend with you." Ben muttered softly as he shamefully looked away from Oliver. Slowly, Oliver walked over and sat next to Ben.

"...I know I'm still a stranger, hell, you're a stranger to me as well...But I want to know you, and I know deep down, you want to know me as well. If you didn't then you wouldn't of come with me to their pier and asked me all of those questions. This will help both of us get to know one another. Please? Two days, that's all I'm asking."

Ben looked over to the wall, then at Oliver.

"Only two days?" He asked Oliver softly and Oliver nodded.

"Two days, no more, no less. Just you and me in my loft."

"That sounded really weird."

"Yes, it did. Yes. it did. So? Deal?"

Ben said nothing at first as he continued to stare at the wall for a few good seconds, his mind wondered to Damian and his offer, if he stayed with Oliver, then he wouldn't join up with Damian...Wait...What was he thinking? He doesn't even know Damian, that and for all he knows it could be another trap! Like hell, if he'd be kidnapped again...

"Ben?"

"Yes! Yes...I'll stay the weekend with you."

Oliver's eyes suddenly widened almost as if he wasn't expecting the answer.

"R-Really? Wow. I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but I figured you would...I don't know, put up a bit more resistance than that. But none the less. Thank you!"

With no warning, Oliver reached over and quickly hugged Ben, before Ben could react to the hug, Oliver quickly let him go and kept that goofy smile on his face.

"Ok. So, I'll pick you up Friday night then!"

Sitting stiffly, still shocked from the sudden hug, Ben only watched as his father gleefully ran downstairs like a happy child.

"D-Did you really just say 'yes'?" Twigleg questioned as he came out from behind Ben's desk.

"I..I think I did."

"...If I can be bold. Why? You showed no interest in him and even slammed the door in his face, you refuse to let him so much as touch you...So...Why?"

Ben kept his gaze forward as he spoke a complete lie.

"I guess...I just want to get to know him better."

Lying felt wrong, especially to Twigleg, but, Ben knew deep down that Twigleg couldn't know the truth. Feeling goosebumps form along his arms, Ben slowly rubbed his arm, smoothing the chills down. Twigleg slowly climbed up the bed and once on top he sat on Ben's leg, looking up at Ben, he could see the concern and worry all over his face. Gently, Twigleg touched Ben's arm.

"Is everything alright, Young master?"

"...Yeah. Of course." Ben mumbled before giving a false smile to his friend, he added with a sly wink, "I'm just worried about how badly I'm going to be chewed out for skipping school again."

"That's your own fault there."

They both laughed softly before Ben quieted down and looked back at the wall.

Damian wasn't his problem, if anything, Damian would probably cause more problems than solve them, two teens up against, what is probably, an army? No. Ben didn't feel like dying just yet.

"Ben. I think we should have a talk." Barnabas spoke from the doorway, and Ben could only smile.

"Yeah. I figured as much."

"Twigleg, a moment please?" Barnabas asked Twigleg gave Ben a sympathetic look before jumping off of Ben's leg and awkwardly walking out of the room. Once Twigleg was gone, Barnabas shut the door and walked over to Ben, sitting beside Ben on his bed, he could only sigh before speaking,

"What's wrong?"

"...I don't know."

"Ben. Your grades are lacking, you're skipping school more than normal, and you just accepted to stay the night at Oliver's, which honestly is the most surprising thing. Something is clearly wrong."

Ben huddled a bit and sighed out before rubbing his arms once more, Barnabas was the only person Ben couldn't lie to, and Barnabas knew it.

"A guy approached me at school today, said his name was Damian, he's American...He said...He needed my help."

"With what?"

"...Dragons. He claimed they're being kidnapped by scientist, he wants me to help free them."

Ben watched as Barnabas's eyes widened at the news. Looking back at his wall, Ben could only shake his head slightly.

"I don't believe him...I don't know how he knows I'm the dragon rider, but I don't care, unless he comes to me with actual proof...I'm not joining him. So you don't have to worry. I don't plan on running off to try and fight an army of trained guards and scientists." Ben smiled at him and Barnabas softened at that, gently his adopted father reached over and brought Ben closer to him in a half hug.

"I know you won't, also, thanks for telling me this. The last thing we need is you running off to do something dangerous."

"BEN!" With no warning, his door was practically kicked opened by an angry Guinevere, who had clearly just gotten out of school looking rather frazzled. Ben could only turn pale as he realized how upset she truly looked, instantly he tried to scramble away but she was way too fast for him, Barnabas didn't even try to intervene, he only watched as she reached over and grabbed Ben by his ear.

"Ow! Ow! Guin! Let me explain!" Ben tried to speak but she quickly yelled,

"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?! THAT WAS NO OKAY!" She screamed at him as she tugged painfully on his ear.

"Guin-"

"No! Don't do that again! You have no idea how worried I was about you!" She yanked her hand off of Ben's ear, and Ben brought his hand up to rub his sore ear. She then sniffled and Ben blinked. Looking at her, he can clearly see she was close to tears. Gently he wrapped an arm around her and spoke softly,

"Hey...I'm sorry, I just didn't think..."

"I know you didn't." She muttered bitterly as she scrunched up her face in anger, she then turned away from Ben and sniffled again.

"I won't do it again. I promise, I'm not leaving, and if I ever do. I'll always call. I promise."

"You better." She muttered before punching him in the shoulder.

"I promise." He smiled softly.

"Alright then. Well, I should go see how Vita's doing." Barnabas said suddenly and both of them looked at him,

"Why? Is she alright?" Ben asked and Barnabas quickly spoke,

"Uh, she's been vomiting a bit lately, we're going to go to the hospital tonight to see what's wrong with her."

"Maybe she's pregnant." Guinevere joked and Barnabas tensed instantly,

"Oh dear, I do hope not."

Both Ben and Guinevere looked at him and he gave an awkward smile once he realized he said that out loud.

"Well, We're be going, you two can make dinner for yourselves. Bye." With that, Barnabas hurried off. After a few seconds, Ben gently tapped Guinevere's shoulder and smiled at her.

"Video games?"

"Sure."

After a good while of the two of them playing their games, with Guinevere as the victor, Ben, Twigleg, and Guinevere all sat down to eat dinner while eating, Guinevere spoke to Ben,

"You promise you won't leave like that again, right?"

"Of course I won't, and if for some reason I do have to leave, I'll call. Or try someway to tell you guy's I'm in danger if it comes to that."

"You better," Twigleg spoke up to him, and Ben gently poked his nose.

"You know a will...I'll always try to contact you guys. You're my family..."

 **Woo long chapter. I know I'm ending it kinda awkwardly, but ey.**


	5. Chapter 5

Breathing out heavily, Ben slowly blinked some of the sleepiness out of his eyes. Yawning he stiffly rolled over to look at his clock. 5:58 AM Groaning a bit, Ben took in a deep breath before shifting a bit beneath his covers Ben slowly breathed out before opening his eyes once more. Ben slowly sat up and groaned out softly. Moving his hand up to his head, he gently took in another deep breath, he felt his chest give a familiar tug, meaning it was time for a cigarette.

Silently he leaned over to his nightstand and pulled out his pack, lighter, and then unplugged his cellphone and held on to it. Slipping out of bed, Ben slowly walked out of his room and then as quietly as possible, he went out the back. Looking down at his pack he sighed softly and pulled out a cigarette, placing it in his mouth, he lit it and sighed out softly as he inhaled.

Letting out a soft cough, he looked at his phone and frowned, the sun hasn't risen yet maybe Atticus would still be up?

He knew Atticus's sleep schedule, seeing how the man was nocturnal, and often said that he doesn't need sleep so there's a possibility that he could be awake. Sniffling a bit, Ben hit Atticus's number and brought the phone up to his ear.

Breathing out heavily, he gently scratched his forehead before bringing his cigarette back down for a drag. Letting out some smoke, he perked up a bit when he heard the sound of someone answering.

"Any reason you're calling me at six in the morning?" Atticus asked sounding rather tired.

"Did I wake you?"

There was a yawn on the other side before Atticus's tiredly answered, "Nah, I was just about to lay down, what's up? Everything alright?"

"Well..."

Ben paused as he took a deep breath, for a moment, he debated if he should tell Atticus about Damian, or about his upcoming weekend.

"Ben? What's wrong?" Atticus softly spoke.

"So...There was this guy at school, Damian..."

Before Ben knew it he was telling Atticus everything about what Damian had told him.

"He wants me to go with him, I don't want to, I don't trust this guy! And on top of all that...I told my dad, my biological dad, Oliver, that...I'd stay over his home for the weekend, It's all becoming too much!" Ben practically cried as he put his hand to his face.

"Hm..." Ben heard a soft hum from the other side as Atticus seemed to be thinking.

"Alright then. How about...I come on by Thursday night? We'll have a talk face to face, sounds like you need it." Atticus breathed out and Ben let out another sigh and flicked out his stub of a cigarette.

"You have children-"

"Yes, I'm aware. But, no worry, I have a babysitter."

"...For...Vampire children?"

"Yes, Ben, I have a vampire babysitter for my vampire children."

"R-Really? I figured vampires sorta...have trust issues with one another."

"Nah, we don't really, honestly, it's kinda odd if there's a lone vampire."

Ben paused for a moment before smirking just a bit.

"So...You're part of a vampire coven? Like Twilight?"

"No, never ask that again. I'm a parent with a few vampire friends that's all."

They both went quiet and Atticus yawned over the phone, for a moment, Ben thought about the way a dog or cat would yawn, showing their teeth before shutting their mouths. He almost wanted to laugh at the image thought better of it. Ben opened his mouth to bring up the dream he just had before he could, he heard the sound of someone tapping rapidly on the glass door, cleaning someone wanting to get his attention, turning, he saw a tired looking Barnabas on the other side of the glass.

"Hey, I'll see you Thursday, Atti, I gotta go."

"Alright then, get some sleep."

Both parties hung up and Ben stood, opening the door, he gave his stepdad a smile.

"You're up early," Barnabas muttered sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, just thought I give Atticus a call."

"At six in the morning?"

"He's a vampire. Plus the sun is still down, so..."

Barnabas let out some air through his nose and just ruffled some of Ben's hair.

"You know, if anyone else said that sentence, I'd think they were crazy. So why are you up so early? Hard time sleeping?" Barnabas asked as he made his way to the kitchen. Ben stood in the doorway and watched as Barnabas started to make some tea.

"...Yeah...A bit."

"Hm, Anything on your mind?

Barnabas smiled once more and yawned, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling, several bones popped loudly, and Ben could only grimace at the sound.

"It's called getting old, it'll happen to you one of these days." Barnabas smiled as he brought his arms down slowly. Breathing out he rubbed his eyes rather sleepily.

"Anyway, I'm going to hop into the shower." The professor yawned and Ben smiled softly.

"Alright, I'll think I'll make some tea," Ben responded as he walked into the kitchen. Grabbing the kettle he tiredly filled it with water and turned on the stove before putting the kettle on. While the kettle heated up, Ben opened the cabinet and pulled out the tea leaves. Resting on the counter, he sighed softly as he waited for the kettle to go off.

"Mornin',teabag's" Guinevere greeted him as she sleepily walked passed him and literally ran into the fridge. Watching as she seemed to have actually fallen back asleep standing up.

"Guin?"

"Fairies." She quickly took in a sharp breath as she woke back up. She put her hand to her head and let out a low sigh, "School starts way too early."

The kettle let out a short whistle but didn't go off right away. Breathing out Guinevere rubbed her eyes tiredly.

The kettle then went off and Ben quickly took it off of the stove and turned the stove off, taking out two cups he filled the cups with water and teabagsin both of the cups. Reaching over he handed the other cup to Guinevere. He smiled as she took it and quickly poured some sugar into her cup. Ben did the same once she was done, once the two of them made their drink's to their liking and sat down at the kitchen table. Silently the two sipped their hot drinks.

They where about halfway done when Barnabas came down the stairs, his graying hair now damp as he walked into the dinning room, tying his bathrobe as he did so.

"There's some extra water if you want a cup." Ben told Barnabas who nodded, but said,

"Thanks, but, I think I'll have some coffee today."

Watching him walk into the kitchen, Ben turned towards Guinevere and smiled softly at her. Within seconds the smell of coffee wafted through the house.

"So, Atticus is coming down Thursday."

"Oh really? What about his children?"

"Vampire Babysitter."

"..." Guinevere just snickered softly before bringing her hand to her face as she just started to laugh softly, "First dragon's, now we're in alliance with vampires. What's next? Werewolves?"

"Oh dear, I do hope not. Werewolves are violent creatures." Barnabas spoke softly as he came in, coffee now in his hands.

"As opposed to vampire's and dragons?" Guinevere asked with a sly smile and Ben was quick to speak up,

"One, Half-blooded vampire who knows how to function in society and doesn't drink human blood, two, very peaceful dragons, I have yet to meet a hostile dragon."

Guinevere chuckled softly and sipped the last of her tea.

"I need to get dressed for school." Ben muttered as he stood up, grabbing Guinevere's cup as well as his own.

"Yeah, I should to." Guinevere nodded and stood, stretching her arms ups to the ceiling she groaned out and then walked away. Ben gently put the cups into the sink and walked up the stairs. Once in his room, he silently stripped out of his PJ's and into a t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Frowning, he looked at himself in the mirror. He really was rather pale, maybe he should start going out more.

Shrugging, looked over at Twigleg, the homunculus was still fast asleep, his little blanket had fallen off his shoulders and Ben could only carefully place the piece of fabric back over his friend's shoulders.

Walking out of his room and down the stairs, he smiled at Vita, who was now sitting at the dinning table.

"So, how was the doctor's meeting?" Ben asked her as he sat down at the dinner table, there was an uneasy silence as Vita stared down at her cup.

"I was just about to ask the same thing." Guinevere spoke up as she came down the stairs, her hair now neatly brushed and into a ponytail.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I think you two should...Sit." She told them and Ben just smirked and said,

"I am sitting."

"Ha." Was all he was met with from the woman. There was a silence as Guinevere slowly sat down next to Ben and looked at her mother and father as Barnabas came into the room as well rubbing his tired eyes.

"So, what's going on?" Guinevere asked again as she gently twirled a piece of her hair.

"Well...Uh...Darlings...This isn't easy." Vita started as she licked her lips cautiously.

"Oh god, you have cancer." Guinevere gasped her eyes wide. Ben felt his own eyes go wide as he turned to look at Vita,

"What!? No, no! It's not that." Vita waved her hands about as she suddenly turned pale.

"Oh. Ok." Guinevere sighed out with relief,

"Geez. Way to jump to conclusions, Guinevere." Ben slightly teased, earning him a playful shove from his sister.

"Well...I turns I...Uhhh..." Vita paused and awkwardly scratched her hair.

"...She's pregnant." Barnabas finally finished for her.

The reaction was instantaneous from both Ben and Guinevere, the two of them jumped from their seats like they were on fire,

"WHAT?!" Both of them yelled excitedly at the same time, Vita jumped back her hands up in defense.

"Like...Seriously! For sure!?" Guinevere asked,

"I mean, no offense but...I thought women stopped...Nevermind." Ben mumbled turning a bright pink color as he covered his mouth.

"Children, calm yourselves. We'll explain it all in a moment." Barnabas chuckled softly as he stood up, "It is getting rather stuffy in here."

Watching as Barnabas reached over to turn the fan on, this time, Guinevere turned pink,

"Dad, wai-" Before she could stop him he flicked the switch and instantly it started to snow flour upon the four of them. Vita's mouth hung open wide as she watched the immaculate kitchen start to turn white, meanwhile, Barnabas now had flour clinging to his still damp hair, making him look like an older man. Both of them angrily turned to Ben and Guinevere, instantly Ben side stepped and pointed to Guinevere who stood there eyes wide no doubt fearful.

"You-" Vita started angrily and instantly Guinevere grabbed a hold of Ben in a chokehold and just let out an awkward laugh.

"Oh, look at the time! Ben! It's time to leave for school!" She started to shuffle away, Ben still in her grasp,

"We'll be there an hour early."

"You need it!"

"GUINEVERE! BENJAMIN!" Barnabas yelled for his children to come back.

"BYE! LOVE YOU!" Guinevere screamed back as she ran out the door, Ben

With that, they were out of the home, Guinevere practically running away as she continued to drag Ben along with her, her arm still around his neck.

"Wait...Mom's pregnant..." Guinevere breathed out as she let go of Ben, who just rubbed his sore neck,

"Did you just forget what what was said five minutes ago?"

"We're going to have another sibling! OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! BEN THIS IS AMAZING! I TOLD YOU THINGS WOULD LOOK UP!" She screamed with delight as she jumped up and down happily practically making Ben jump with her.

"Please, Calm yourself."

"BEN! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM! MOM IS GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" She let out a scream and hugged Ben who just gently and awkwardly patted her back. He should feel happy about this, but...

He didn't.

He should feel joyful.

But...He didn't...He didn't feel anything as he just stood there. Slowly they let go of one another and Guinevere practically skipped away giggling. Ben let out a soft noise and slowly walked along, following his sister to school, no, he didn't feel joy or happiness about the news of a new arrival to the family. Still, he should give it time, in due time he'll hopefully feel the same excitement his sister was feeling...

Hopefully.


	6. Chapter 6

Atticus let out a sigh as he exhaled his smoke, looking at his phone, it was rather late, with a heavy frown, he could only put his phone back into his pocket. It was now officially Thursday, a little too early into Thursday, no way Ben would be up at this time of night. He might have gotten a little ahead on the time.

Standing outside the darkened home of the Greenblooms, Atticus could only shrug, a little five-hour walk wouldn't be so bad. Turning his heel, he started down the sidewalk, his hands in his trench coat pockets as he walked silently down the way. His kids had put up a bit of a fight with him leaving twice in one week to go and see Ben. Lucy being the snarkiest one had a few choice words to say to him about it, but all it really took was a glare in her direction and silently, but bitterly, backed down. Sofi was the only one to not say anything, which was normal, but then again, she was three.

With a sigh, Atticus dug into his pocket as a breeze slowly passed by him. Pulling out his phone, he looked at his it once more, not even thirty minutes passed as he continued to walk straight. As he continued to stare at his it while walking, he suddenly stopped and perked his head up and turned around to look behind him and listened intently. He heard something, a footstep, maybe, but something nonetheless. Breathing out, he decided to just go back to the Greenblooms. Walking forward, now on edge, Atticus narrowed his eyes as he cautiously looked about. Then he could hear it, it was unmistakable, the sound a heartbeat.

Stopping, knowing he was not alone, Atticus stood there, tense as he could hear the heartbeat becoming closer and closer. Reaching down, he slowly pulled out the knife concealed in his boot. Narrowing his eyes, he heard it, the heartbeat right behind him. Turning, he raised his knife ready to fight only to stop as he found himself staring at a blonde dog.

"Oh...You scared me." He breathed out as he got down to one knee. The dog's tail wagged as it approached Atticus,

"You're a cute thing. Yes, you are. Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you." Atticus cooed softly as he scratched the dog behind the ears. Atticus then frowned as he heard another heartbeat approaching rapidly before he could stand an arm snaked itself around his torso and he was yanked up, crying out, he quickly stabbed the person on the arm, earning a cry of pain from whoever had him. However, he soon felt his ponytail being grabbed and his head was harshly yanked back and with no warning, a blade suddenly slashed across his neck.

"Son...Of...A..." Atticus gurgled, the blade wasn't silver, but it was still painful as his neck was now wide open. He was pretty much hindered useless as he fell to his knees, as if that wasn't bad enough, he felt his jacket being ripped, he tried to get whoever it was stuck something into his arm. He felt his vision slowly grow dark, falling onto his side, he could only look up. With his vision growing more and more blurry and his breath becoming shallow, he could only make out one distinct feature from his attacker,

the guy had blue hair.

Slowly, before Atticus blacked out, he watched as the man became clear as the guy was right into his face.

"Don't worry, I just injected you with some mixture of roasted garlic juice and a little bit of cyanide to make sure you would stay down, it shouldn't kill you, but it should make you appear dead enough, but then again, you got that down pact Dontcha?...Also, I'm taking your car. I'm not a bad guy, I swear. I just need Ben. I'm sure you'll be awake in about...hmm...a day. Alright, Buddy, let's move ya."

Fighting to stay awake, Atticus breathed out as he felt his own blood slowly drip from his neck. His arms suddenly being grabbed he was being dragged away, it was at this part he couldn't fight it any longer and slowly slipped into darkness.

* * *

Ben let out a soft sigh as he looked at his phone, it was now Friday and Atticus never showed up, never called to cancel, nothing. Ben had called him loads of times but each time he was met with nothing. He was starting to grow worried, this wasn't like Atticus.

"I'm sure he's fine, Ben, he's probably on some big, Dadicus mission," Twigleg told Ben gently, Twigleg sitting cross-legged on Ben's dresser.

"Yeah, I guess...It's just...Something isn't right. He'd never just...not call me...He hasn't returned any of my calls. And now I'm just going straight to voicemail. Did I do something to upset him?" Ben questioned as he gently tugged on his own hair a bit. Twigleg frowned at this,

"Look...Maybe he got found out and has to hide for a while? That's a possibility."

"...Yeah. Maybe." Ben sighed out as he sat down on his bed, his backpack next to him full of his clothes.

"So, a quick subject change, you excited to spend the weekend with Oliver?"

"I don't know...I hardly know him."

"I know, but he wants to you to know him, otherwise he wouldn't have asked, right?"

"Yeah, that's true."

The two sat in silence as Ben looked at his phone once more, still nothing. Ben tsked his tongue out in slight annoyance. Leaning onto his backpack he turned his head to Twigleg, he felt kind of bad, ever since Twigleg turned back into a homunculus it just feels like he's been pushed to the side, again. With a small smile creeping onto his lips, Ben felt an idea hit him.

"You want to come with me?" Ben asked with a smile to Twigleg. Twigleg smiled at him and stood,

"Is that even a question? of course, I do! I was honestly afraid you'd never ask!"

"Alright, hop on, and stay hidden. Can't have Oliver seeing you." Ben told Twigleg as he extended his arm out. Instantly, Twigleg jumped onto Ben's arm and scrambled up till he reached Ben's shoulder, once there he slid himself into Ben's hoodie collar and nestled himself the crook of Ben's neck, instantly Ben tensed and giggled as his neck twitched.

"Ah! That tickles! easy!" Ben laughed as he tried to control his urge to bring his shoulder up in fear of squishing his friend.

"Not my fault you're ticklish...Tickle, tickle-"

"AH! TWIGLEG!" Ben laughed out loudly as he forced his head the other way so not to harm Twigleg. "Stop! stop!" Laughing out once more.

"Alright, I'm done."

"Ben?"

Hearing Oliver, Ben straightened up, almost causing Twigleg to fall down.

"Who...Are you yelling at?" Oliver asked as he looked into the empty room.

"Uh...I wasn't yelling."

"...I'm pretty sure you were, you were telling someone to stop."

"OH! That! Yeah, I had the TV on, horror movie."

"You were laughing."

"The death was funny."

"Right...Well, you ready to go?"

"Yep."

Grabbing his backpack from his bed, Ben made sure Oliver had his back turned to send a playful glare Twigleg's way before happily walking along behind Oliver. Making his way down the stairs, Oliver was the first to speak,

"Well, we're off."

"Yep," Ben said rather stiffly behind Oliver.

"Alright then, you have your phone on you, right?" Barnabas asked as he stood there, one arm wrapped around Vita's shoulders.

"Yep, still no phone calls from Atti..." Ben mumbled as he took his phone out of his pocket to check it for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, the guy with cancer? Is he alright?" Oliver asked as he peeked over Ben's shoulder to look at his phone, Ben quickly pulled his phone back and gave Oliver a look, clearly telling him that it wasn't okay.

"Right, sorry," Oliver muttered. "Anyway! Of we go, don't worry, I'll bring him back in one piece." He finished happily.

"Goodbye. I'll be back Sunday. Tell Guin I said bye."

"Be safe!" Vita yelled as they quickly turned and walked out. Ben sniffed the air once outside, it was a beautiful day out, the sun shining brightly above them as a nice cool breeze rolled by them, not a cloud in the sky, a truly nice day.

They got to Oliver's car, Ben threw his bag into the back seat and hopped into the passenger's side door, instantly he noticed the multiple fast-food bags that littered the floor of the car, not just in the front but also in the back, accompanied by the unpleasant smell of old grease and french-fries.

"Sorry about the mess. Understand sometimes it takes somewhere between four to six hours to perform an autopsy and sometimes those are at night and normally at that point, I get pretty hungry and don't feel like cooking, so, I just stop and eat at the nearest fast-food joint." Oliver explained as he started the car up, Ben spoke once they were on the road.

"So...Not to be mean, but...Do you go to a gym or something?" He asked and Oliver just chuckled,

"Nope, just a good metabolism...For the time being, I'm sure in a few years my poor eating habits will catch up with me."

Ben chuckled softly as he looked out the windshield, there was a moment of silence before he heard the soft sound of a lighter lighting up, turning his head, he turned and looked at Oliver, Oliver then turned to Ben a cigarette hanging out of the man's mouth, he then quickly looked back at the road,

"Oh, Sorry, I'll roll down a window."

"Can I have one? OW!" Ben felt a harsh jab into the side of the neck, Twigleg clearly unhappy with Ben's question. "Sorry, neck spasm, so anyway, that smoke?" He was met with another neck jab by Twigleg, he managed to ignore it as Oliver looked at him, one eyebrow raised up.

"You're sixteen."

"I'm aware of my age. Thank you...That smoke now?"

"Fine. But you didn't get it from me." Oliver sighed out bitterly as he handed Ben a smoke. He went to get his lighter but only paused the moment he heard Ben's own lighter spring to life.

"Huh. So how long ago did you start?"

"A little over a year ago."

Ben couldn't help but smirk at the sound of Twigleg's bitter,

'bahhhh!'

"Really now? You really shouldn't smoke, it's bad for your lungs, your teeth will yellow-"

"Please, save me the lecture, I already got an earful from my other friend about it."

"you're going to get another one when we're alone," Twigleg whispered bitterly, Ben just shook his head and inhaled on the smoke.

Ben watched the homes that passed them as Oliver continued to drive. He let out a bitter cough.

"Urg, these are menthols." Ben gagged out, Oliver just laughed at Ben.

"Then smoke your own."

"I left them at home."

"You told me you quit, you liar." Twigleg seethed rather loudly and instantly Ben shushed him the moment Oliver started to look around.

"What was that?" Oliver asked slightly startled.

"I didn't hear anything. Probably a person outside or something." Ben shrugged it off, Oliver frowned but then shrugged along. Twigleg started talking again, this time in a whisper,

"You are going to get an earful, I swear it. I am so-

"Shush." Ben breathed out, Oliver looked his way once more and Ben masked it with a fake cough.

"Menthols, I swear."

"Alright...Annnd here we are."

Oliver parked his car in the parking lot of large building.

"Alright, let's go." Happily, Oliver jumped out of his car and Ben followed suit. Grabbing his backpack from the backseat he walked along with Oliver. Once up to the building, a doorman opened the door for them and Oliver gave the man a slightly startled look,

"Odd, we've never had a doorman here before..." Oliver commented to the man, the man just smirked slightly and turned his gaze to Ben, instantly, Ben got chills down his spine from the man's stare.

"Just got hired, sir."

"Right...Anyway...C'mon, Benjamin." Without a second glance, Oliver passed by the doorman and Ben did so as well, ducking away from the doorman, Ben wearily gave the stranger a sideways glance before following Oliver into the elevator. Standing next to one another, Ben watched as Oliver hit the button for the fourth floor.

"So, I was thinking after we get you settled we could go out for some dinner, then maybe a movie or something," Oliver told Ben, Ben gave him a small smile.

"That sounds fine," Ben responded.

Oliver smiled warmly, the elevator dinged and the two walked out. Walking down a hallway of doors, they stopped right in the middle and Oliver unlocked it,

"Welcome, to my home."

Ben had to admit, it was a nice looking two story loft. The living room and kitchen were on the bottom, The first thing to be seen was a long white couch facing a rather big TV, a glass coffee table right in between the two. The kitchen was to the right of the living room.

"Wow...This is a big place for...You are a bachelor right?"

"Yep! Never cared for more...Yep! I'm a bachelor!" Oliver stumbled looking rather awkward at his mistake. Ben chuckled but said nothing as he walked over and toed his shoes off onto the mat next to the door. Oliver did the same thing.

"So, tell me...Why this big of a place? I mean surely you must feel...Lonely?" Ben asked Oliver and he just sucked in some breath.

"I don't know...I fell in love with it..."

"...Can I ask a rather...Sensitive question?"

Ben sat down on the couch he can feel Twigleg slipping a bit out from under him, quickly Twigleg scrambled back up onto Ben's shoulder.

"Oh...Ok." Oliver sat next to Ben and waited for the question.

"...What was Mom's name?"

"Oh?...Right, you were given up...Lilith, her name was Lilith."

"Alright...Why did you leave Lilith?"

"Oh geez...I'm sorry, Ben, really, I am. I was young and stupid and...So selfish back then...I just couldn't imagine living with someone who was destined to die so early..."

"We're all destined to die someday. You're a corner, you know that."

"I know...I know...I was just...So selfish, I know that...and I can't stress this enough. Benjamin, I am so sorry about what happened to you because of me. I really am." Oliver shuddered softly as he sighed out.

"..." Ben stayed quiet as he suddenly reached over towards Oliver's shoulder, only centimeters away from touching him, Ben slightly hesitated before sucking down his pride and gently placing his hand on Oliver's shoulder. Oliver blinked and looked at Ben, who only frowned before reaching over and hugging him. Oliver seemed surprised at first but then quickly embraced Ben as well.

"I know you are." Ben breathed out softly. Slowly they let go of one another and Ben sighed out, as he made sure Twigleg was alright.

"So, dinner?" Oliver asked with an awkward laugh.

"Yeah sounds great!"

After Ben, Oliver, and secretly, Twigleg ate dinner they went to the movies, thankfully because it was dark in the theater Twigleg was able to poke his head out of Ben's Jacket to watch the movie and eat some popcorn. Once the movie ended the two of them walked outside, the sun now setting.

"I've seen better." Oliver commented as the two of them walked back to the car, "It wasn't that bad." Ben shrugged in response.

"Eh."

Together they made it back to the loft, Ben still cautious of the doorman standing outside, made sure to avoid eye contact with him as he walked by the man.

The moment they walked into Oliver's loft his phone suddenly went off.

"One moment," Oliver mumbled to Ben as he shut the door. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket he answered it,"Dr. Pearson speaking."

"Ohhh Doctor." Ben teased softly as he sat on the couch, Oliver gave him a look before his face suddenly fell.

"What! No! Get someone else! I asked for the weekend off!" There was a silence before his face turned from annoyance to anger, "Did you not hear me!? I asked for this weekend off! Why do you need me!?" More silence more anger, "...Are you kidding me! What...A homicide?!...Wait if his throat was slit then why does he need an autopsy?...No ID...Looks like he was injected with something..Nobody else to do it?...Fine." With that, Oliver hung up and turned to Ben who just smiled,

"Go. I understand, Barnabas has to go on spontaneous trips, especially ones that catch his fancy." Ben told Oliver simply as he leaned back on the couch.

"Ok, Thank you! let me get changed in my scrubs." Oliver hurried off up the stairs, within five minutes he was hurrying down the steps in plain blue scrubs and white sneakers. Oliver quickly spoke as he put one hand on the door handle. By that point, Ben was on his phone, rather bored as he noticed still no calls or anything from Atticus.

"I should be back in four to six hours. Please, I'm begging you, don't leave the loft. I know you're not a kid anymore but I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Ok, fine."

"There's plenty of food in the fridge and pantry. Help yourself to anything...Ah, scratch that, don't drink my booze, please."

"I prefer smokes."

"Right. I'll be back later. Goodbye."

"Bye, love you," Ben muttered without thinking as he continued to scroll through his phone., the moment it left his mouth he felt his eyes grow wide, there was no way he could take it back now.

"Oh...Love you too."

With that Oliver opened the door and left, Ben just shook his head from side to side as Twigleg finally emerged from his jacket. "Now that we're alone! I HAVE A FEW WORDS TO HAVE WITH YOU! SMOKING!? STILL!? YOU TOLD ME YOU STOPPED!" Twigleg started to berate Ben, as Ben could only listen and nod along to his friend. At one point Ben went to look at his phone but Twigleg wasn't having that as he made sure all of Ben's attention was on him as he continued to scold him. Chuckling, Ben could only listen on.

* * *

Oliver let out a sigh as he walked into the autopsy room, the smell of death hit his nose hard, quickly he pulled his mask up to his face. Looking over at the corpse on the table, all that was covering the person was a thin sheet, per usual. Going to the sink, he was met with his assistant, Jannet.

"Doctor Pearson." Jannet greeted him, Oliver looked over at her, her blonde hair up in a high ponytail, her face hidden behind her own mask, together the two of them scrubbed their hands clean.

"Doctor Lapari." Oliver stonily greeted her back as he shook his hands to get the excess water off.

"How's the rekindling relationship with your son?" Jannet asked with a sly wink, Oliver just shrugged,

"I prefer to keep my personal life away from my work. Thank you very much, Doctor." He stiffly spoke as he grabbed a pair of gloves, Jannet did the same thing and quickly spoke up defensively.

"Look. I know you don't want to be here, but that doesn't give you at the reason to be an ass." She snapped.

"Let's just get this over with." Oliver rolled his eyes as he walked over to the table, all his tools already on a dish beside him. Jannet walked over to the other side and started to read off the clipboard.

"John doe. Height 6'1, eye color unknown-"

"How can his eye color be unknown?"

"He has red contacts in."

"Then take them out."

"I tried already they won't budge, now, if you mind?..." Jannet let out an irritated sigh before continuing where she left off. "He was found in his car in a store parking lot by an employee of the store. Neck slit, a small hole was found in his right arm." Jannet finished and Oliver just shook his head and pulled the sheet off of the john doe and instantly gasped out. Taking a step back he could only put his hand to his mouth.

"What? Do you know him?" Jannet questioned her voice had clear shock in it.

"...I don't...But my son does...Oh god...I have to call my son."

"I thought you don't mix person-"

"This is different!" Oliver snarled as he took his phone out of his pocket. Breathing out heavily, he dialed Ben's number and put the phone to his ear.

"Pick up...Please..." Oliver begged as he gently rubbed his forehead. On the third ring, Ben answered,

"Shhh!...Done already?" Ben asked with a slight laugh.

"No...Ben...Jesus...Ben this is hard to say...Your friend. The one with cancer..."

"Cancer...Oh! Atticus? What about him?"

Oliver looked up at the ceiling as he sighed out.

"He's dead. Ben..."

"Well...Wait...What?"

Turning his back to Atticus, Oliver bit his lip before continuing,

"He's on the table. Ben...He's dead...I have to cut him open."

"NO! WHATEVER YOU DO! DON'T CUT HIM OPEN!" Ben screamed from the other side, horror in his voice.

"D-D...D.." Jannet stuttered and Oliver just shushed her with a finger, not even looking in her direction, he continued on.

"Ben, I have to. It's my job. I'm sorry-"

"NO! OLIVER...dammit...He's not dead."

"...Ben...He's dead."

"D...Doc-" Jannet stuttered once more.

"No! He's not! Oliver...He's undead. He doesn't have cancer. He's a vampire!" Ben cried desperately to Oliver.

Oliver let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jesus Christ, Benjamin, Vampires don't exist. I don't know what lies he told you-"

"HIS EYES ARE RED! HE'S A VAMPIRE! DO NOT CUT HIM OPEN! OLIVER PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!"

"Ben! He's dead!" Oliver yelled out, there was silence between everything when suddenly a voice spoke right behind Oliver.

"No, I'm not."

"JESUS CHRIST!" Shrieking out Oliver dropped his phone as he spun around to look at Atticus, the man now sitting up straight, clearly naked. Jannet had her back to the wall, her eyes wide as she was clutching her chest at the sight of Atticus.

Atticus was breathing in and out heavily, then with no warning he stood and slowly walked over to Oliver, using the thin sheet to cover his privates he leaned and picked up the phone. He then put it on speaker.

"Ben."

"ATTICUS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? WHAT HAPPENED!? THEY SAID YOUR NECK WAS SLIT!"

"Yeah...It was, it's...I'll be alright. Listen. Lock the doors, keep yourself hidden, let no one in. I'll be there shortly."

"Wait...What's...Never mind. Ok."

Hanging up, Atticus turned to Oliver, who stood there blanched and shaking.

Holding on to the sheet, Atticus walked towards a drawer and opened it. He dug around for a moment before pulling out black stitching thread and a curved needle. Walking over to the shell-shocked Oliver, Atticus put the needle and thread into his shaking hands.

"Stitch me back up, please. Do be fast."

"...I..I cut people open..I don't...Most of the people that come through here stay dead."

"Yeah well, I'm not dead and I'm not alive. So. Stitch me up. And fast, Ben could be in danger."

"What?"

"Yeah. Who did this to me is after him. I'm not losing him again. So. Stitch me up. Please."

Oliver watched as Jannet finally and suddenly bolted out of the room. Slowly he pulled at the thread in his hands and looped it into the needle.

"Ok, just hold still..."

* * *

Ben impatiently tapped his fingers on Oliver's couch, Twigleg said nothing as he sat on Ben's shoulder.

"...He was attacked...But not killed. Maybe it was just a mugging gone bad?" Twigleg suggested and Ben shook his head.

"If it was that, he wouldn't have told me to lock the doors. I'm not getting taken again, Twigleg, I'm not." Ben breathed out heavily, standing up from the couch Ben went over to the kitchen to get something to drink. Grabbing the milk he grabbed a cup from the cupboard right before he got to pour the milk into the cup there was a knock at the door.

Putting the milk down he slowly walked over to the door, putting Twigleg down, Ben peeked through the peephole and shuttered once he saw the doorman.

"What do you want?" Ben asked making sure the door was locked.

"Mr. Pearson has a package."

Looking through the peephole once more he saw the doorman holding a brown box.

"Leave it at the door, please." Ben swallowed hard as he shook slightly.

"...Well, someone could take it. Please just open the door."

"...No! Just leave it at the door."

"...Very well."

There was a silence as Ben finally backed away from the door and let out a soft breath. Looking back at Twigleg, Twigleg gave Ben a thumbs up. Walking over, Ben picked up Twigleg and allowed him back up on his shoulder. Ben shook his head and spoke,

"I don't trust-"

He stopped when there was another knock on the door, this one more forced.

"Police!"

"Oh...Jesus." Ben breathed out and walked over to the peephole once more. Sure enough two men in police uniforms were there waiting.

"I'm sorry, is something wrong?" Ben asked.

"There is a crazed man going around this building, we just need a statement."

"...Ok..."

"Benjamin, please open the door."

Ben sighed out and reached over to unlock the door, only to stop suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Twigleg whispered.

"How do you know my name?" Ben asked loudly to the two officers.

"...Open the door."

"Hide, quickly," Twigleg whispered and Ben backed away and rushed towards the stairs, running up the steps he ran into the nearest room and quickly went into the closet. The moment he shut the door, there was a loud bang from downstairs. Ben put his hand to his mouth and stayed quiet. Feeling his heart beat rapidly, Ben shut his eyes as the sound of feet running around.

"Oh, Benny. C'mon out." Someone spoke.

Backing up into some coats, Ben held felt his lungs protest the lack of air, they honestly felt like they were ready to explode. Shakily looking at Twigleg who just had his finger to his lips in response to Ben's stare.

Ben mentally cursed at himself as he realized he had left his pen knife in his backpack downstairs. Moving a coat out of his way, a light bulb lit up in his head once he heard the soft sound of the metal hanger moving ever so slightly. Silently reaching up, Ben took the coat off of the hanger before removing the hanger from the rod. Once in his hands, he made the hanger into a point.

Hearing footsteps nearing him, he heard the two voices speak,

"-It's the only place we haven't looked. Let's just hope the brat didn't jump from the window."

"If he would have done that he would have died and James would have had our hides if that happened, you know he specifically said he wanted the kid alive."

"Eh, would have made our job easier, I don't even know what Marr's wants with that kid...Oh, Benjamin, I know you're here still! C'mon now, aren't you a little too old for hide n seek?"

Slowly peeking through the slits of the closet, Ben watched as they moved passed the closet for the time being to look elsewhere. Both men where burley and large, it would take more than a metal hanger to take them down. With both men having their backs turned, Ben put his finger to his lips and slowly opened the door, slipping through the closet door, he quietly tip-toed behind the two faux police guards. He got out the door without alarming them, however before he could fully bolt of the door, he heard one of them suddenly yell out,

"HEY!"

Running, Ben hoped and prayed that Twigleg would stay on as Ben hurriedly rushed down the steps. Ben could hear the men following close behind, he knew they were clearly capable of catching up but he truly had no idea how close they really were until he felt a sharp pain on the back of his scalp as one of them had grabbed him by his hair. Crying out, Ben stopped with such a force that Twigleg fell from his shoulder and landed ungracefully on the ground.

"Well, well, who do we have here." One asked as he reached for Twigleg.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Ben roared as he suddenly thrust his leg out and kicked the man as hard as he could.

"Brat!" The man spat without even flinching from the kick, with no warning, he backhanded Ben's face hard enough for Ben to suddenly see stars dance around his vision for a few good seconds. Breathing out heavily, Ben spat out some blood from his now busted lip. Looking back to Twigleg, his friend still on the floor looking at Ben now horrified. The man was going to turn back to Twigleg, but Ben quickly spoke up gaining the man's attention once more,

"That's your best?! Please! I've had bug bites worse than that!"

The man turned red in the face at the insult, he seemed ready to strike Ben again, only this time the other guy spoke up,

"Don't listen to him, just grab the...Thing...And let's get out of here."

He let out a bitter growl and turned back to Twigleg, who was now, thankfully gone. Ben let out a sigh of relief, at least Twigleg was safe.

"Can I hit him again?"

"No. Let's just-"

The sound of a soda opening caused everyone to suddenly pause and turn. Coming out of the kitchen was Damian, the teen had a sandwich in his hand and a beer, all and all, he looked rather bored.

"You know, Oliver got the good lunch meat. Mmm, honey maple turkey." Damian spoke as he took a big bite of his sandwich. "Shame I have to drop it."

Damian dropped the sandwich only to throw his beer, can and all, at the guy holding on to Ben's hair. It hit the guy's head hard enough to stun him momentarily, Ben reacted just as quickly and with the hanger he still had in his hand he stabbed the man in the arm. The man clutched onto his bleeding arm screaming out, knowing that would cause unwanted attention, Ben used all his strength to punch the man in the face, knocking him out instantly.

The other guy then went rushing at them, only to stop and scream out with no warning, he started to jump up and down kicking his leg wildly about, Ben watched as Twigleg came rolling out of his pants leg. The man was about to stomp on Twigleg, However Damian being ten times faster than Ben managed to pull a stun gun from his pocket and rush over to the man getting him right in the neck, like a sack of bricks the guy was down on the ground seizing violently. Both him and Ben breathing out heavily, Ben regained his senses and ran over to Twigleg still on the ground, thankfully unscathed.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked Twigleg.

Before Twigleg could answer, Damian was quick to start quipping,

"Yeah, don't mind me, the one that gave up a really good sandwich to save you."

Twigleg and Ben both just looked at him before Twigleg shakily answered Ben's question,

"I'm fine...I was going to bite him, but I thought ripping out his leg hairs would probably hurt worse than that."

Thank you, Twigleg..." Ben breathed softly.

"Ahem!" Damian yelled, not even bothering to mask it as a cough.

"...You! How the hell did you know I was here!?" Ben suddenly yelled pointing at Damian.

"I told you, on the fifth day, I'd come and ask you to come with me... It's midnight on the fifth day! Like I said!...Duh!"

"What? What is he talking about?" Twigleg asked and Ben shut his eyes and sighed out.

"There's no way in hell you knew I was going to be here. I didn't even know I was going to be here!"

"Wait...What?" Twigleg asked once more now even more confused.

"I told you, I have an info-guy, he knows everything. He watches every camera."

"Oh great, I'm being watched twenty-four seven? Where do I sign up to go on a suicide mission with you?"

"WHAT?!" Twigleg suddenly screamed, Ben instantly went to comfort Twigleg by saying he was not going with Damian.

Unbeknownst to Ben the man who had backhanded him started to get back up, before Ben even noticed, Damian suddenly grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back into the wall, Ben watched wide-eyed as Damian then ran full speed and tased the man once more and like before he went down without much effort.

"...I think that makes three times I just saved your ass."

"...What do you want from me?"

"I already told you what I want. I need you to come with me."

Twigleg ran over to Ben and quickly scaled up his friend's leg, upon realizing this, Ben scooped Twigleg up and placed him back on his shoulder.

"...I'm not going with you unless you have proof," Ben spoke breathing out softly. Twigleg just turned and looked over at Ben wide eyed still very confused. Damian just sighed out and combed his fingers through his hair with a bitter sigh.

"Yeah, I figured."

Ben watched as Damian reached into his pants pocket and pulled out some pictures and with a smug look he handed Ben the pictures. Grabbing them, Ben looked and felt his eyes grow wide.

The first picture was a large red and black dragon that was being held down by a contraption that was clamped around its wings, tail, and large muzzle. As it looked like hundreds of men and women were all surrounding the red dragon, each person had on a mask and gloves, followed by the traditional white lab coat. in each person's hand, it seemed that they all had sharp tools. Swallowing hard, Ben flipped to the next picture and shuttered. All the people now seemed to be...Cutting into the poor dragon. Shaking his head, Ben cringed and dropped the pictures, he didn't want to see just what was next. Twigleg had his hands clamped over his mouth.

"Ah! Stay down!" Damian suddenly yelled, there was a loud grunt from the large man as Damian gave him a kick to the face, finally knocking him out. Damian then focused on Ben and raised an eyebrow before speaking once more, "That dragon is dead, by the way...They practically skinned it alive."

Ben backed up and turned his head away.

"Why would you show me that?" Ben whispered horrified as he started to shake horribly.

"What is wrong with you!?" Twigleg screamed as he raised his tiny fist at Damian.

"You wanted proof. That's your proof, right there. I'm not lying to you, Ben...I need your help, together...You and me? We can free all those dragons, because, trust me, there are hundreds if not thousands of them in captivity. All...Just waiting to be the next test subject. To die a horrible, painful, torturous dea-"

"Enough!..." Ben spat as he turned to Damian once more. With his arms crossed, Ben turned away once more and bit his lip. Damian let out an irritated sigh before rolling his eyes,

"Look. Ben. If you don't help me, more and more dragons are going to die. That's the truth and I'm not going to sugarcoat it...You can stay here, finish school, go to college, get a job live a normal life and just be another stupid cog that society wants you to be and maybe you'll see your dragon friend every...three...four years? Or..." He paused as he looked at Ben before continuing,

"Or you can come with me, save dragons and stop a madman. Become stronger within time and stop your sour cream looking butt from being kidnapped, they aren't going to stop, James Marrs isn't going to stop until he gets you. You're safer with me. You know that...Then again." Damian let out a sigh and walked on passed Ben and towards the door before he walked out, he just turned and shrugged towards Ben before continuing,

"Like I said before, I'm not going to force you. The choice is yours, come if you want, or not." Damian turned and walked out. Ben let out a shaky breath as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Thank goodness he's gone," Twigleg spoke up and Ben looked back down at the pictures.

"...Twigleg...I think I'm going to go with him." Ben breathed out as he looked up at the ceiling.

"WHAT?! Young master, you can't! He'll get you killed!"

"Twigleg, He's right, if James Marrs sent these two goons my way HERE at Oliver's then he'll go after the Greenblooms...Plus...Those dragons...They need someone...I'm going. DAMIAN!" Screaming out Damian's name, it didn't surprise him when Damian instantly popped his head into the doorframe, eyebrow raised.

"Young master, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then. I'm with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way...Damian, I'm coming."

"Alright let's hurry, the actual police are already on their way and they'll probably want to know what happened."

Ben hurried behind Damian, the two of them took the stairs instead of the elevator. Getting outside, they hurried into Damian's old topless car. Getting into the front seat, Ben watched as Damian pulled out of the parking lot, going straight, Ben watched as cop cars rushed passed them going the opposite way, their sirens blaring as they headed towards the loft. That was when Ben spotted Oliver's own car going the same way right behind the cop cars, instantly a painful tug hit his chest hard.

"If you need to call anyone, do it now. Because this is one of the only few times I will allow it."

Slowly Ben took out his phone in his pocket and Damian sighed,

"Let them know you aren't coming back. You're with me now."

Ben looked at Twigleg who just nodded as he sat on Ben's shoulder, saying nothing.

Bringing up his phone, he dialed Atticus first. Atticus picked up on the first ring, his tone joyful,

"Hey! We're just getting up the stairs. Don't worry, Sorry it took so long, Oliver can't stitch to save his life-" Atticus joked,

"Atticus-" Ben tried but was cut off by Atticus who continued,

"You think a man who knows how to cut someone open can stitch, then again, he was shaking, you should have seen his face-"

"Atti-"

"I mean god, it was priceless, that and he had to find me some scrubs because they cut my clothes off-"

"ATTICUS!"

"What! Jeez.."

"I'm not there," Ben passed before taking in a deep breath, "I'm with Damian."

"What?" Atticus's joyful tone dropped into a very serious question, "...Why are you with him? What happened?"

"He saved me. Atticus, I'm not coming back nor am I going to the Greenblooms...I'm sorry...He showed me proof. I have to help...I have to."

"Ben...Don't do this. Please...Don't leave again."

"...Goodbye, Atticus. You're a great friend. I'm hoping to see you again in the future." With that, Ben hung up and looked at his phone. Almost instantly, Atticus started to call him back, but hit the ignore button and sighed,

"I have to call the Greenblooms, then I'll be good."

"Just make it fast," Damian told him as he focused on the road.

Ben dialed the home phone number for the Greenblooms, seeing it was almost one in the morning, it didn't surprise him that he went to voicemail. Actually waiting for the beep, Ben started to talk.

"Uh...Prof...Guin...Vita...I have to leave for a while...I...I...I don't know when I'll be back." Pausing, Ben felt his eyes water and reached up to wipe a tear away from his eyes. "...I love you all..." He let out a shudder as he tried to keep his composer. "...Goodbye."

Hanging up, Ben felt the wind suddenly hit him, before he could even react, Damian snatched the phone from his hand and then threw it behind him, making it go flying onto the road behind them and get hit by another car.

"Hey!"

"Hey, nothing. They could track you with that phone...Now. If you don't mind." Damian reached over and turned on the radio, causing Ben to suddenly jump as rock suddenly blared through the speakers. Ben and Twigleg both covered their ears.

"Oh c'mon! It sets the mood! Benny, don't tell me you don't know this song! Here the most famous part is coming up...I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!" Damian started singing along to the song and Ben and Twigleg could only look at each other as the car continued down the darkened road.

"HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

"Oh god, I paired up with a psychopath."

"No stop signs! Speed limits!"

While Damian continued to sing, Ben just gave Twigleg a sudden smile as he laughed awkwardly.

"Twigleg...I feel like things are going to get a million times more interesting with him around."

"Interesting indeed."

Feeling the wind hit him, Ben looked up at the night sky and gazed out over at the moon, bobbing his head slightly to the music, he could suddenly feel a smile grow on his face as the song changed. For once in the first time in three months, Ben finally felt it.

An odd feeling of happiness. He knew he shouldn't feel this way.

But he did.


End file.
